


Don't Let Them Know

by aurons_fan



Category: Kingdom Hearts (Video Games)
Genre: During Kingdom Hearts 3, M/M, Stress Baking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-27
Updated: 2020-09-27
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:20:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,201
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26672053
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aurons_fan/pseuds/aurons_fan
Summary: With everything that Sora has to deal with in KH3, it's no wonder he starts stress baking in the middle of the night.
Relationships: Riku/Sora (Kingdom Hearts)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 66





	Don't Let Them Know

**Author's Note:**

> Hi. It’s me. Again. I seem to come back to KH fic when I’m having massive writer’s block, so thank you all for indulging me.
> 
> This fic came from a handful of things – one, making the bread Sora makes is truly such a lovely way to force your brain to focus on something when it’s screaming and cannot focus. Two – I recently rebeat kh3 and lmao that is a _g a m e_ good lord. And three – you know that image from Rugrats, where Stu is making chocolate pudding in the middle of the night ([this one](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIR68SbPg-U))? I feel like that. And there are times in KH3 that I’m fairly certain Sora feels like that too (especially the first time you go to confront Xehanort. Welp).
> 
> So enjoy!

On normal nights, Riku generally doesn’t sleep well. He heads off to bed fairly late, waving away a final drink from Kairi and Lea, avoiding a chat with Mickey or Yensid (though if that man slept at all, it was news to him), and lays in bed, wondering how much longer he will be awake.

Even when Sora’s at the Tower, Riku would still be up half the night. Sora would curl tightly into Riku’s side, breathing peacefully, and Riku would glance out the window, wondering, if he shifted juuuust so, would he be able to see the stars a little better.

During these long nights, whether Sora is beside him or not, Riku spends a lot of long nights on his Gummi-Phone, scrolling through all the Kingdom-Grams that had been posted throughout the day. He’s usually too busy to be on his phone, so middle-of-the-fucking-night ‘o clock seemed like a good time to try and see what people had done. Half the time, he just scrolls through Sora’s page, photo after photo of Sora grinning, showing something off, or once, shoving Donald off a large cliff face into the ocean below.

(Riku will never admit that he loves that photo. That he has that photo saved to his phone and references it when a small, tiny, almost non-existent part of his mind flashes back a few years ago, when Donald was so willing to abandon Sora for Riku; when all Riku wanted was Sora at his side, and Donald wouldn’t let him on the _fucking_ gummi ship. And for a tiny, iota of a moment, he wants that duck to _burn_.)

Ahem.

But that’s not this night. This night, Riku wakes up, the moonlight steaming into the window, and the bed beside him empty. His brain races, certain when he’d fallen asleep, Sora had been beside him.

Was Sora even in the tower?

Loud clanging of pots and pans makes him sit up. Riku climbs out of bed and slips into his house shoes (because the Mysterious Tower might be many things, but Yensid doesn't use magic for heated floors), and heads towards the noise.

It takes him a while, past a handful of closed bedroom doors and possible storage closets. He doesn’t know how the entire tower hasn’t awoken with the loud noises coming from the kitchen, but hopefully it would just be the two of them.

His Keyblade is just out of reach, should he need it.

But all seems well as he walks into the kitchen. Sora stares intensely at a silver bowl, absent-mindly grabbing what looks like dough from the bowl, pulling it high, before all but throwing it back into the bowl. Riku watches for some time as Sora does this, not seeming to realize he has an audience.

After a while, Sora nods to himself and grabs something to cover the bowl with. As he turns to do so, he notices Riku finally and gives him a smile. Even from where Riku is leaning against the doorway, he knows something is wrong -- that smile seems far too forced. But it is late, and he’s not going to just start throwing accusations onto Sora from minute one.

“Hey you,” Riku says, resting his head against the door frame. “Late night?”

That same damnable smile stays on Sora’s face. “Yep. Just doing some baking.”

Riku waits for a beat, but when Sora doesn’t elaborate, he continues. “Bit late for baking.”

“I just…” Sora turned back to the bowl, and suddenly his attention is on the dough in front of him. He’s too busy covering the bowl and writing on the covering what looks like a checkmark to focus on answering Riku.

Riku approaches him. Every line in Sora’s back looks tense. Riku knows what long nights can feel like and sympathizes. “Couldn’t sleep?”

Sora doesn’t turn to face him, hands still on the bowl. “It just… kind of feels…” he sighs.

Suddenly Riku can’t _not_ touch Sora, so he wraps his arms around the boy, resting his head on Sora’s shoulder. Sora relaxes ever so slightly, but keeps his focus on the bowl in front of him.

“Yensid gave me a mission to discover the Power of Waking,” Sora says. “And Donald, Goofy, and I have been going to all these different worlds and meeting so many new friends.”

Riku nods, about to say some meaningless platitude. But Sora inhales, breath shaky, and Riku shuts up.

“But it doesn’t matter? None of the worlds we’re going to are helping me find it. In fact, I feel more confused than when we started. And! And now I need to find Roxas a body, _and_ when I was in Arendelle a little while ago, one of the Organization members mentioned them using my new friends for some new seven princesses of light, which Yensid _never_ told us about! And I just! None of what I’m doing! Matters!”

Sora exhales loudly. From where Riku is standing, he can feel how tightly Sora is controlling his breathing. But Sora doesn’t continue speaking, instead looking down at the bowl of dough in front of him.

Riku completely gets where Sora’s coming from. With this new Organization XIII (which, what a name), Sora still not having the Power of Waking he needs, the fact that Replicas are back in play (which must mean Vexen is around _again_ ), and seven _new_ princesses of light? Riku and the King hadn’t been briefed on that last one, but whatever the new Organization XIII is planning, it can’t be good.

“So, instead of sleeping, you’re baking…?” Riku starts, but honestly feels a little lost.

Sora breathes again. “Because, this stupid bread is easy and when I fold the dough, I can see it change right in front of my eyes.” Sora nods towards his Gummiphone on the counter which is covered in a bit of flour. “I found a recipe on there, and hopefully it’ll be good. But it’s not like it matters. Because it doesn’t matter in the long run. It’s not like it's going to help me defeat Xehanort.”

“Sora,” Riku says. 

“Sorry, sorry,” Sora mumbles. He finally – _finally_ – begins to relax against Riku. “I just wanted to see if there was one thing I could do right, and the dough is all sticky and it’s kind of weird feeling. But at the very least, I’m no longer trapped in an ice palace, being thrown off a cliff into a snow bank for the millionth time, or putting together a talking snow man, so I guess life isn’t as bad as it could be.”

One day, Riku will use his sway as Keyblade Master and will sit down with Yensid and talk about the worlds Sora goes to. Riku seems to hit only sensible worlds, with people who are able to speak to him about their issues and can help. Sora came back from this last world, and Kairi had jokingly told him to “let it go” when it came to an problem, and Sora seemed to black out for a moment.

But that is for later. Now, Riku is going to ignore the “being thrown off a cliff into a snow bank” and ignore the “talking snow man” because none of that is quite as out there as “talked to Santa Claus,” and instead gives Sora a kiss on the cheek.

“I understand the need for things to make sense,” Riku says, against Sora’s cheek. “And it really does seem like everything is being thrown at us. But we’ll figure it out. And we’ll be able to get Aqua, Ventus, Terra, and even Roxas back. But it’s just not going to happen immediately. I’m not… sure why these worlds are the ones opening up to you, but even if you don’t find the Power of Waking, you’re still getting stronger, right?”

He turns Sora around so they face each other. The smile is completely gone from Sora’s face, but he’s watching Riku with such intensity that Riku forces himself to smile.

“So, if baking this bread helps you to relax, then I’ll help. We’ll throw it in the oven, wait for it to be done, and then go to sleep as it cools. But don’t think you have to take this all on by yourself…”

He trails off, as Sora reaches for his phone, scanning the screen for a moment, before shaking his head. 

“No, it says you have to fold it four times, let it rest a half hour between each time, and then put it in the refrigerator for 12-24 hours.” Sora blinks, before giving off a short laugh. “I just finished the fourth fold so… I guess we can just go to bed.”

Riku sighs in relief. “I didn’t actually want to stay up late and bake but if it made you feel better, I would’ve. So now, the best of both words, I suppose.”

He watches as Sora moves around the kitchen, putting the bowl in the refrigerator. Riku even helps clean things up, not quite sure where things are supposed to go, and also a little terrified of the brooms that line the walls. He’d seem Mickey look at them in fear once, and Riku never quite figured out why.

But when everything is all cleaned up and finished, Sora looks at the kitchen. He hugs himself, looking down at a newly wiped countertop with something that seems almost like dread. Riku rounds the counter and lays a hand on Sora’s shoulder. Sora seems to register that he’s there, but doesn’t move from his current position.

Exhaling, Riku pulls Sora in for a hug. With that, Sora’s arms wrap around Riku, holding on like a lifeline.

“We’ll figure it out, okay?” Riku says, mostly into Sora’s hair. Sora’s breathing in deeply against Riku’s chest, and if Riku squeezes him a little tighter, that’s no one’s business but his own. “We’ll figure out Xehanort. We’ll get all of them back. And you’ll get your Power of Waking. Just next time you need to freak out, know I’m here, okay?”

He feels Sora nod against him, feels his chest growing slightly damp, and kisses the top of Sora’s head.

“Now come on. Let’s go to bed.”

Sora nods again, and Riku moves his arms, wrapping one around Sora’s shoulders. And together, they walk back towards their room.

\--

The next afternoon, when their chores are finished, the bread is baked.

(Or well, the bread has been removed from the fridge, and then has rested for two hours and then has a ton of olive oil and toppings put onto it and and then has been baked, and then has rested for up to an hour and a half before Sora was allowed to slice into it, but technicalities.)

But either way, the bread is now in front of them on a simple-looking plate, and everyone is digging into it with pleased expressions. Lea (Axel? Riku has no idea) compliments the chef and goes in for another piece. Kairi grins and nudges Sora’s side, and Sora just gives her a smile back. Even Yensid and Mickey have come down from strategizing their next plan and are chatting with one another while eating.

Riku sits on the steps of the tower with a few pieces in hand, tearing a few morsels off and throwing it into the grass. He feels someone drop their chin onto his head, and he somehow just knows that it’s Sora.

“What in the world are you doing?” Sora runs a hand through Riku’s hair, before moving to take a seat next to him. “Are you wasting my bread?”

Before Riku can answer, Donald rounds the corner and starts picking up the pieces of bread from the ground. He gets a confused look upon his face, before turning to look Riku and Sora sitting on the steps and glares at them, Riku specifically.

Riku grins.

Sora sighs, nudging into Riku’s side, but when Riku looks over, he can tell Sora’s hiding a smile.

“The bread _is_ really good,” Riku says. He throws another small piece, and Donald snatches it out of the air before it can land. “You’re not too bad at this baking thing.”

Sora’s quiet for a moment. Or well, everyone is quiet as Donald chews Riku out for being a terrible person, because he's not an _animal_ , why is Riku being such a _jerk_. But when Donald finally leaves the two of them alone, Sora rests his head onto Riku’s arm, leaning onto him.

“Thanks,” Sora says, voice barely loud enough for Riku to hear.

Riku drops his hand not currently greasy with bread on Sora’s shoulder and gives a tight squeeze. “Send me the recipe okay? I want to have some waiting here next time you three show up again.”

There’s no response for a moment, and Riku looks down to make sure that Sora had heard him only to immediately see Sora staring back up at him, expression unreadable.

That moment passes, and Sora smiles, wide and unburdened. “Yeah, of course.”

Riku kisses the side of Sora’s head as Sora types into his Gummiphone. And for a moment, everything is alright in the world.

**Author's Note:**

> if you also wanna make the bread that Sora’s making, here’s the easiest recipe I’ve used: [bread](https://thecafesucrefarine.com/ridiculously-easy-focaccia-bread/)  
> Not going to lie, his recipe is based off three recipes that I shoved together when I a) wanted to try something new and b) didn’t want to bake bread at 2 in the morning so I shoved it into the fridge and went to bed. But I’m linking them just in case, but the first recipe is truly the easest and delicious to boot. Also if you wanna make it AND you’re nervous, this was my first bread and it’s delicious and freezes well. Try it out!
> 
> [video 1](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAkotB7wyUg)  
> [video 2](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTD-z1wd0tw)  
>    
> (also title is from Let It Go from the Frozen movie because Arendelle in KH3 makes me scream)


End file.
